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Rosalind Bunn is one busy woman. She’s the co-author of three children’s books, Sophie May and the Shoe Untying Fairy, The Butter Bean Lady, and The Monsters Three, coauthored with Kathleen Howard. Whose Shadow Do I See?, released last September, was her first “solo” work.

You can hardly find a local or even regional children’s event without coming across Rosalind’s name, smiling face, or one of her book covers. That’s a testament to how hard she works to reach her audience and how much she loves what she does.

I met Rosalind years ago now at a book signing, of course. I have no children or nieces or nephews at the age appropriate for children’s books, but there I was leaving the bookstore with an autographed copy under my arm. I read it cover to cover before gifting it to someone with a child who I imagined would love The Monsters Three. The story is a Halloween tale about a few little monsters who learn their manners while trick or treating.

Rosalind teaches elementary school in Marietta, has three grown children of her own and one grandchild. How she keeps smiling in the middle of that chaos, I don’t know. But she does, and I think that’s her secret (or one of them) to selling books. Rosalind greets you with that warm smile, exudes charm, and next thing you know, you have a library of children’s books under your arm.

I once thought writing children’s books would be a snap compared with writing a novel or book of nonfiction. I went so far as to find an image for my first page and write five words on a facing page. And that’s where my first (and last attempt) at a children’s book stopped. It’s tougher than it looks.

When I mentioned my failed start to Rosalind she shared a couple of secrets with me, one was that each book has to have a message that resonates with adults and children. In her latest book Thunder and a Lightning Bug Named Lou, due out in December 2016, Lou has a light that shines too bright. But he soon discovers sometimes what makes you different is what makes you special. Amen to that.

Rosalind says she writes about what she knows and that most of her ideas come from fond childhood memories and favorite recollections of her children’s early years.

Oh, and before I forget, congratulations are in order. Rosalind and Kathleen’s The Butter Bean Lady, a story of love and acceptance in South Georgia in the 1950s, was recently accepted into the Atlanta History Center’s bookstore. That too is a message–one suitable for everyone of reading age.

Get real! That’s Bookmiser’s message to the public. It’s a message we authors support. And though we welcome readers of any ilk, those who read our books in print are often our favorite. Like many of today’s bookstores, Bookmiser is not just a place to pick up a book to read. It’s a cozy, welcoming place Annell Gerson’s smile beams from behind the counter. Or from the nook where book clubs meet and discuss their monthly selection. Or as she checks the wine and hors d’oeuvres table for the event she’s hosting that day. Or from down one of the aisles where she’s hand picking a selection for a client she’s come to know over the eighteen years she’s been in business. And though, I’ve used the word cozy, don’t think small, Bookmiser carries over 50,000 books in each of their REAL book stores, one in Marietta and one in Roswell.

Stop by and pick up one of Rosalind Bunn’s books! You’ll be back for more.

For more information contact bookmiser.net or visit Bookmiser stores at 4651 Sandy Plains Road in Roswell or 3822 Roswell Road in Marietta

If you have a story to add about a writer, a book, or bookstore you’d like to read about here or if you would like to be featured in a future post, contact me at: rona_simmons@bellsouth.net or leave a comment below.